A quiet notice V2Melody closes at midnight on , Spanish time.

Closes

A note from Richard

V2Melody will close at midnight on 20 January 2028

This site has been a retirement project in musical poetry: poems chosen with care and set to music, offered freely for as long as it felt right to keep the garden open.

The work no longer holds the place it once did in my life. I have gone as far with it as I wish to go. Like a sand mandala, it was made to be completed and then released. I am not attached to its permanence, and I do not believe any of it needs to last beyond the time it was given. The poems were already here before I arrived and began to experiment with them. They will still be here when these musical experiments, and indeed myself, have been swept away, like the sand of a mandala. Nothing has been lost.

I want a simpler end to my life, days of simple love and enjoyment with my wonderful wife of 20 years. The work of maintaining a server, the monitoring, and the residual obligations that come with keeping a site alive no longer fit that life.

From 4 November 2026 I will not be adding new poems or musical poems to the site.

The experimental music I am making now is on my Suno profile. Those pieces stay there, and are not added to this site.

Until midnight on 20 January 2028, Spanish time, everything remains available exactly as it is. That is when my VPS server contract comes to an end, and it will not be renewed. After that, the server will be switched off and the site will disappear.

The Mandala Is Finished explains this more fully.

Thank you to anyone who found a poem, a track, or a quiet moment here.

The pleasure was in the making.

Richard

Home › Glossary › Letter P

pow

Dialect
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Pow is a Scottish dialect noun meaning the head or crown of the head (pate), often used affectionately or descriptively in poetry.

Detailed Definition
In Scottish verse, particularly in Robert Burns' poems and songs, "pow" refers to a person's head, especially the top or crown, evoking images of hair, aging, or physical character. It adds a folksy, intimate tone when describing features like white or "frosty" hair, symbolizing the dignity and beauty of old age. This term allows poets to blend vivid physical detail with emotional warmth, making abstract themes of time and companionship more tangible and relatable through everyday Scots vocabulary. Its usage highlights the sensory and affectionate qualities of dialect poetry.
Example
Example in poetry:
From Robert Burns' "John Anderson, My Jo": "But now your brow is beld, John, Your locks are like the snaw; But blessings on your frosty pow, John Anderson, my jo!" Here, "frosty pow" tenderly refers to the husband's white-haired head, blessing the signs of aging as part of a cherished life together.
Additional Notes
Historical context or origin: A longstanding Scots term found in literature from the medieval period onward, popularized in 18th-century poetry by Burns and others. Related terms or variations: Synonymous with "heid" (head) or "poll/pate"; contrasts with more formal English equivalents by its colloquial warmth. Common usage tips or pitfalls: Effective in evoking rustic or historical Scottish settings; ensure context clarifies it as "head" to avoid confusion with other meanings like a slow stream ("pow"). Etymology: A Scots variant of "poll," from Middle English, referring to the head or scalp.
Also Known As
head poll crown
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